Yuan ends at over 5-mth low, set for worst day in 1-1/2 years

SHANGHAI, June 19 (Reuters) - China’s yuan fell to its lowest level against the U.S. dollar in more than five months on Tuesday as trade tensions escalated between the world’s two largest economies.

President Donald Trump threatened on Monday to impose a 10 percent tariff on $200 billion of Chinese goods, raising the stakes in the tit-for-tat trade war with Beijing.

The yuan opened onshore trade at 6.4450 per dollar, and weakened to a low of 6.4754 at one point.

It ended at 6.4743 by the official close of domestic trading in the late afternoon, the weakest such close since Jan.11.

If it ends the late night session at the same level, it would have lost nearly 0.6 percent against the dollar for the day, its worst daily performance since Jan.6, 2017.

Traders said a triple whammy of growing trade tensions between the United States and China, signs of cooling in China’s economy and rising corporate demand for dollars were all hitting the Chinese currency. (Reporting by Winni Zhou and John Ruwitch; Editing by Kim Coghill)